SiliconBeat

Congratulations are in order to those who worked hard to promote the cause of an Open Internet. Last month I Interviewed Marvin Ammori, general counsel for the Free Press, which was one of several groups leading the charge. At the time, Kevin Martin had recommended the Federal Communication Commission vote to punish Comcast for blocking some types of Internet traffic.

On Friday, the FCC voted to do that, by a vote of 3 to 2, which was much closer than I had expected. Comcast won’t have to pay any fines. Still, it marks the first time the FCC has officially voted in favor of such a policy, and that’s good news for all of us.

In a press release on Friday, Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, issued the following statement:

“The FCC’s bipartisan decision to punish Comcast is a major victory. Defying every ounce of conventional wisdom in Washington, everyday people have taken on a major corporation and won an historic precedent for an open Internet.

“Today’s order makes it clear that there is nothing reasonable about restricting access to online content or technologies. Moving forward, this bellwether case will send a strong signal to cable and phone companies that such violations will not be tolerated.

You can find the original Comcast complaint filed by Free Press here.

Last week, the Associated Press reported that Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said he would recommend that the other four commissioners rule that cable giant Comcast had violated the agency’s principles regarding open access to the Internet. While the ruling is not final, the statement marks a major victory for Free Press, a non-profit advocacy group that filed the original complaint against Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company.

On Monday, I interviewed Marvin Ammori, general counsel for the Free Press. We talked about what happened last week, what happens next, and why we should all care.

For background, the original complaint is here. And more background on the history of the fight can be found here.

Going forward, Martin needs two more commissioners to sign on to his proposed decision within the next couple of weeks for it to become official. While the FCC is not recommending a fine, Ammori said his group would be satisfied with the ruling that Martin has proposed.